


Come Back to Me

by Magentas_Nightmare



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adult Content, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-05 20:42:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Merle falls for a beautiful young Irish barmaid who is far from home and in need of a good friend...maybe more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a shorter fic. I'm into keeping them more simple lately. I'll still have longer fics but only if there's a plot worthy of that kind of length, this is a simple love story.  
> ALSO: Her name is pronounced Bride-y (like bride with a long E on the end) It's my favorite Irish name for a woman.

**_ Come Back to Me _ **

**_ Chapter One _ **

 

Merle watched Bridie closely for months, and he knew that she was different. It wasn't just the sexy Irish accent either. It wasn’t just the cute little tartan uniform skirt she wore for work, the black thigh high stockings or the long red hair. There was something more about her, something impossibly sweet and good. She was so young and beautiful, and he was a middle-aged man in a suit. They had nothing in common, but she captivated him from the start. He waited for her to notice he was there that night, to smile at him sweetly, and then bring him his drink as The Cranberries played good and loud.

 

 **The stars are bright tonight**  
**And I am walking nowhere**  
**I guess I will be alright**  
**Desire gets you nowhere**

 **And you are always right**  
**And my, you are so perfect**

 **Take you as you are**  
**Have you as you are**  
**Take you as you are**

 **I love you just the way you are**  
**I'll have you just the way you are**  
**I'll take you just the way you are**  
**Does anyone love the way they are?**

She had the kind of body that could make an older man like Merle feel very naughty. Bridie was just the kind of woman he couldn’t resist, young and soft with all the right curves in all the right places. Sitting in the darkened pub watching the sway of her full hips as she pulled pints and served tables ensured him there was a God. Someone or something almighty had created Bridie Lynch.

Merle owned a highly successful contracting firm in town and could easily afford to drink at a nicer establishment, but no other place had a woman like Bridie to talk to and to look at. When he first started frequenting the pub, she'd serve him drinks with a shy smile and a nod of her head; it took him a few visits to get her talking.

Once she did start talking though, he learned all about her life back in Ireland, all her favorite things about living in the US and how she was hoping to buy a home of her own someday. Bridie had a douchebag boyfriend named Colin that Merle hated, he could read his game a mile away, he was a player if ever there was one. Sadly, Bridie had come all the way from her home in Ireland to be with him, and it would never last in a million years, Merle knew that much.

She was in her mid-twenties at a guess, but there was a lingering innocence about her that made him hungry. Merle loved seeing her for a few hours on Fridays after work; it lifted his spirits to be around her. Merle loved beautiful young women; they had always been his weakness. Bridie had red hair, pale skin and a face covered in freckles that made him crazy. Merle wanted to know where else the freckles covered her skin; he was a dirty old man for her.

"How's my little, Bridie, tonight?" he asked, just like he did every Friday.

"Your little Bridie isn't doing so well tonight...I don't know what I'm going to do," she sighed. "I'm sorry, you don't need to hear this."

"What's wrong, honey? Tell old Merle all about it," he offered.

The place was quiet; he was there early that Friday and so she sat for a moment.

"I lost my place to stay...I don't even know where I'll go tonight."

"What happened, honey?"                                                     

"I caught my boyfriend with someone else so now everything I own is in my van and I have nowhere to sleep," she sniffled. "I'm sorry."

"Hey...shhh, honey. It's gonna be OK."

"How?"

"What kind of place do you need?"

"Just a room, I didn't bring much from Ireland...I just need somewhere to sleep. I can't even afford to get home now," she whimpered. "Is there a shelter in town?"

Merle had an idea then, and it would probably freak her out, but it would also solve all her problems.

"I got a place for ya."

"What?"

"It's just an attic suite, but it's yours as long as you want it. I still have to finish renovating the rest of the house before I can flip it and that could take six months or more."

"Why would you do this?" she frowned.

"Why not?"

She didn't look like she believed it, but he insisted that it wasn't a big deal and it really wasn't. The place was vacant so why not have someone use it?

"How much do you want for it."

"Just cover your own cable/internet. I'm already paying power, heat, and water on the place and I ain't gonna try to figure out the share for one little loft."

"But this is crazy, Merle!" she exclaimed.

"You can save up to get home then, right? Didn't you only come to the US for this boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a damn shame if you're trapped so far from home, in my opinion. Honey, I got the space, and nobody's using it...just take it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I'll finish my pint, and you give me your keys to the van. I'll take your stuff over. It's the big blue house on Main Street with the red door.

"But..."

"I ain't gonna rob you blind, honey," he grinned. "Let me take care of this."

Merle was the owner of Dixon General Contracting; he was wealthy beyond her wildest imagination, it’s not like he’d have any reason to steal an old van from her or her few possessions, so she handed over the keys as expected.

"I'm not in any position to turn down help," she smiled, handing over her keys.

"I'll come pick you up after your shift. What time?"

"10 pm."

Merle downed the last sip of his Guinness and walked out to grab her van to drive it to the new place. It was only 4:30, so he'd have time to get her stuff moved in and clean up a little. He could come back and pick up his car the next day; he was just eager to do this favor for Bridie.

/

As it turned out, the girl owned almost nothing. She had only a few boxes of books, a suitcase with some clothes, and a large plastic bin of random personal items. Merle sighed heavily at the circumstances of the girl and ran to the Walmart to remedy the problem. He had more money than he could spend as a successful businessman and single 42-year-old, so he'd do this good deed in good conscience.

He had to buy her a bed since there wasn't one in the loft and some basic furniture along with a couple hundred dollars of household items. The girl didn't have cups, a broom, towels or anything else to make a home function. He had to put a lot of the furniture together, so the hours slipped away quickly. He put emerald green bedsheets on the new bed; she was Irish after all.

Next, he filled her fridge with the basics and called it a night. She'd be safe anyway, and it was a start. He'd check in and see what else she needed in a day or two, but at least she wouldn't be at the shelter.

He had to rush, but by 10 pm he was picking her up and driving her back to the house.

"You're renovating this house to sell it off?" she asked as they pulled up out front.

"Yeah, it's one of many houses I got in the works, but that's the plan."

Merle handed her a key to the suite, and she asked him to come up with her. Bridie unlocked the door to the small space, and she could tell right away that everything was new, he had hoped it wouldn't be so obvious.

"Merle..."

"What?"

"This place was empty this morning...wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Cause I can afford it and cause I like you."

"You like me?"

"Yeah...and no, I'm not just trying to get you to sleep with me. Not sayin' I'd turn the idea down or anything," he chuckled.

She walked slowly from room to room taking it all in and stopped in the bedroom to look at the bed.

"Green," she whispered.

"Do Irish girls get sick of the color green?" he asked.

"No...it reminds me of home."

"I'm really just trying to help, honey."

"Is that the whole truth?" she smiled as she turned to look up at his face.

"I ain't admitting nothing."

"Merle."

"If I were a younger man, I'd be chasing you till you told me to go fuck myself, but I'll settle for just making you smile."

"I always look forward to Fridays," she said.

"Yeah?"

"You always come in on Fridays and ask how your little Bridie's doing...I look forward to that."

"I look forward to Fridays too. So, are you OK then? Anything else you need?"

"Stay for a drink at least, a Good Samaritan put some wine in the fridge for me," she smiled.

/

Merle insisted on leaving her some cash so that she could get more groceries and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Merle? Are you trying to be my sugar daddy?"

Merle realized that it's exactly what he was doing without meaning to and he sighed to himself as he finished his wine and set the glass down on her new table.

"I think I might be...sorry, honey."

She turned to him then, and he didn't know if she was going to smack him for a second or not.

"So...how does that work?"

"How does what work?"

"A relationship where you're....40?"

"42," he grinned.

"A relationship where you're 42 and I'm 25, and I'm living in a loft that you own, and you're handing me hundreds of dollars...doesn't that make me a prostitute?"

"No, honey...I just want you to have a safe place to stay. It's not right that you end up on the street because some idiot couldn't see what he had and messed around on you. This place is yours for at least the next six months, and you don't have to say another word to me if you don't want to...there's no strings attached."

"This is so strange."

"It's actually really simple, Bridie. If you want to see me, then I'd love to see you but if you don't then that's OK too. I just want you to be safe."

"Thank you so much.”

"I don't have anyone else to care for, and you were in a tight spot. It’s no trouble for me, I swear."

Somehow, she seemed to detect more behind it, and so she pressed him gently.

"Tell me what you really want, Merle. I need to know what's in your head."

"You sure you wanna know?”

"I can handle it," she insisted.

"I’m in a position where I can help you, so I wanna do that. I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't happily have more with you, but it's not some kind of condition."

"Do you want to sleep with me, Merle?" she grinned.

He thought he had her fooled, but she could probably see it all over his face.

"I don't want to possess you or keep you as a pet, but your sea green eyes look right through me. I'd probably give anything to see all that red hair spread out over those green bedsheets…yeah, I'd love to sleep with you, but only if you wanted me too."

"Wow..."

"I know. Reprehensible, right? Are you uncomfortable?"

"No...I'm interested."

"Is that right?" he grinned.

/

Bridie had always found Merle attractive; she even mentioned it once to Colin who said it was disgusting for her to find a man in his forties hot. Colin had a lot of opinions that offended her, but he was the past, and apparently, Merle was going to be in her future.

Bridie felt the electricity of the moment and would likely question the impulsive nature of her decision in the morning. For the moment, though, she needed to touch this man, and nothing else mattered. The worst day of her life had morphed into one that reminded her of the goodness of humanity. Was making out with him for being kind to her wrong? If it was wrong, then what the hell was a good reason to kiss someone?

She moved a little closer to him on the couch and loved the way he was looking at her. Merle looked at her like she was a model or something, and not an underpaid and overworked barmaid. She touched his shoulder and came in slow, savoring the excitement of being so close to an older man, and lay a soft kiss on his lips.

Merle smelled of expensive cologne and the suit he was wearing probably cost more than her entire suitcase of clothing. He was all class, and she couldn't resist the idea of being his girl for as long as it made sense. His lips were warm, and he waited to touch her back for a few minutes; she appreciated him not just grabbing her the way Colin would. Merle gave her time to ease into it, and the embers smoldered for a beautiful duration.

When it did evolve, it was with one of his strong hands on her waist and a slight tilt of his head to open his mouth and accept her tongue.  A few minutes into the kiss, he pulled back and just looked into her eyes like he was trying to reconcile his mind with his body.

"I should probably go, honey."

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"Yeah, I need to be up early. Call me if you need anything at all, OK?"

"I will...I don't work tomorrow if you wanted to stop by."

Bridie couldn't figure out why he was leaving, and she wished that he wasn't, but she didn't want to push it either.

"Maybe I could bring over supper, and we could watch a movie," he suggested, and she was giddy to know he'd be returning.

Merle kissed her again quickly before leaving, and for the next hour, she lay on the new green sheets thinking of his touch. Eventually, she gave in to the need to let her hands travel down her body to her breasts and then further south to the aching need between her thighs. Bridie imagined him naked; she imagined him laying her out and urging her legs apart...she imagined him fucking her senseless. He was a real man, not a boy like Colin. She prayed it would continue the next night.

She let the open palm of her left-hand move over her breasts and abdomen and stroked her clit with her right hand as she replayed his voice in her mind. Merle Dixon had awakened something very primal inside her with just a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two** _

Merle questioned himself all night and for the entire next day. It wasn't his decision to help her; it was the desire he had to pursue things with her that had him wondering. It would be incredible for him, but would it be of any benefit to her? She was a beautiful young woman who was trying to get back home to Ireland as soon as she had the money. She mentioned once that she was on a work visa that was due to run out, he needed to know when that was. In all his adult life, Merle was never this weak for a woman. He knew she had the potential to leave him broken and yet he couldn’t resist.

Merle knew that when he went to see her, he’d be unable to say no if she so much as touched him. He wondered if he should maybe call and duck out of their plans, but he couldn't resist the chance to spend a whole evening alone with her.

/

Daryl wanted to know what his deal was at work the next day when it became evident that he was distracted. His brother had been his right-hand man at work since the beginning and Daryl could tell when something was off with him instantly. Merle confessed that he was once again fantasizing over a younger woman and it left Daryl chuckling to himself.

“That barmaid, huh?”

“How did you know?”

“Cause you been yacking about her for months now, it ain’t rocket science, Merle.”

“Oh…I didn’t realize I mentioned her that much.”

“Hate to burst your bubble, but it’s pretty much every day,” Daryl smirked.

Merle liked the look of younger women, and he had tried flirting with them in the past, but he never dated one before. Bridie was the first girl to be attracted to him in return, but he was still a little afraid that she was trying to pay him back somehow, he didn’t want to win her that way.

 “You actually seeing this girl?” Daryl asked.

“I don’t know…maybe?”

“What does that mean?”

“She kissed me, and I’m pretty sure she wanted me to stay last night.”

“And you didn’t?”

“I put her up at the loft of the Main Street house cause she had nowhere to go. I didn’t feel right about staying, like maybe she felt like she owed me or something. I’m going over there after work to see her, and I don’t know what the hell to do.”

“Man, I wish I had your problems. You got a young chick throwing herself at you, and you’re all flustered,” Daryl laughed.

“I don’t wanna hurt her, and I don’t wanna get hurt.”

“How do you mean?”

“She’s on her way back to Ireland when she saves enough money.”

“Just have some fun then and see where it goes.”

“I guess so.”

“Don’t take it all so seriously, Merle.”

“Fantasizing about her was easy cause there were no stakes, it was safe cause I didn’t think there was a hope in hell she’d want me back.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Daryl grinned.

“I want her; I just don’t get how this could end well if she’s leaving.”

/

Merle picked up a 6-pack with some take-out food and drove to the house he had bought a year ago. He was still in his suit from work and clinging to every ounce of self-restraint he possessed. He was afraid he’d lose his nerve if he went home to change first.

"Hey there," she smiled and moved out of the doorway to let him in.

Bridie was in tight black leggings that only came just below her knees and a white tank top, she had her red hair in a long braid. He eyed the freckles on her shoulders and chest with longing. He could tell she’d just gotten out of the shower by the scent of her skin and the slightly damp sheen to it as well.

"Hope you're hungry," he smiled, offering her a bag of Italian food from the best restaurant in town.

“I’m starving; I just got home from the gym,” she sighed.

She curled up on the couch, and her bare feet caught his attention with her red painted toenails; she was driving him crazy.

"Thanks so much for this," she said, laying a hand on his thigh and squeezing just enough to almost break him.

"It's nothing; I always prefer to eat with company if I can."

"I still can't believe I'm in my own home...well, you know what I mean."

"Hey, it is yours, honey. I meant what I said."

"Colin called me this morning, and I told him to lose my number permanently. He thought I'd be desperate to take him back because I was homeless...thanks to you I have a roof over my head, so I could tell him to get lost," she giggled.

“It was nothing,” he insisted.

They chatted for a while longer, and she put on a movie as they relaxed with a cold beer. The food was delicious, and Merle loved having someone to eat with. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to eat around him as well. Merle had gone on a date with a woman the year before who picked at a salad for almost an hour, and he didn’t understand it. Merle liked nothing more than watching a woman enjoy things: food, good wine, music, sex.

/

Bridie turned off the light to make it more romantic and edged closer to him as the movie played. She put an old dull foreign film on her laptop and moved in close to him on the futon he had bought for her the day before, hoping they wouldn’t be watching the film for long. All day long she had been thinking of the kiss that set her mind racing. She grabbed a blanket from the back of the futon and lay it over their laps in the dark. After a good twenty minutes, she put her hand on his thigh under the blanket and looked at him with only the glow from the screen.

"You lookin' for trouble, little girl?" he grinned, lifting his arm to lay it around her shoulder.

"Do you mind?" she asked.

"No... I just don't want to take advantage of the situation."

Bridie leaned her head on his shoulder and moved her hand a little higher up on his leg praying that he'd go with it.

"I thought about you last night," she began.

She could tell that he was a little nervous, he was still, and his breathing was shallow.

"What did you think about?" he asked, his voice betraying his nerves.

Bridie smiled with her cheek against his chest and began to weave her tale of desire to him.

"I thought about the way you kissed me; I imagined what it would be like if you had stayed the night."

"Jesus..."

She came in closer then to bring her mouth to his neck, right next to his ear.

"I touched myself, and I couldn’t help pretending it was your hands instead of my own.”

"Bridie...I..."

"I had to say it out loud…I had to tell you,” she breathed, and he had never felt so aroused from words alone.

She sounded absolutely desperate, and his body ached for her.

“I want you, Bridie…tell me it’s the right thing to touch you.”

“It is…please, touch me.”

/

Merle couldn't take it anymore, she was so close, and she smelled so good. He felt her hand move high enough up his thigh that his mind went blank and suddenly his fears were gone, all he could think of was touching her.

She kissed his neck, and her hand cupped his dick through his dress pants.

"Fuck," he hissed, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her.

"Just go with it, Merle," she purred, and the web was woven.

He reached out and lay one of his big warm hands on her belly, and she lifted one leg to rest it over his thigh. She was welcoming his touch, and he knew that. She wanted him to touch her, he could feel it, and it was too tempting to resist.

Merle gave in and decided that making out with her was worth all the potential complication. He moved in tight to kiss her neck in return and gradually pulled the straps of her tank top down to reveal her bare breasts. She had no bra on, and he lay his hand on her right breast, finding it firm but soft all at once. He looked down to see the sweet pink nipple, and he had to take it with his mouth. It was more than the way her body looked; it was how she moved, the sound of her voice, the words she chose…it was everything about her, she left him so needy.

She pulled him in by the back of his head and spread her legs further apart to draw his touch to the place that she needed it most. Bridie could already feel that release was close. She had never been intimate with a real grown man, a man who wore suits to work. His gravelly voice, body hair and the sheer size of him compared to Colin made her light up with lust inside. Colin was just a scrawny douchebag in baggy ass jeans who never had a dime to his name; Merle was a real man.

He was sucking her nipple softly, his tongue trailing around it slowly and she whined under her breath at the sensation brewing between her legs. His mouth on her breasts was pulling the strings down below, creating the swelling heat of arousal that would demand more, always more. When his hand finally slid down below her navel, she was squirming for the friction of his skin against hers. He pushed his hand into her leggings, and in a heartbeat, he had her entire body at his command. Merle's middle finger slipped between her lips as if it knew the terrain of her body by heart and he stroked her entrance gently. She wanted those fingers deep; she wanted the beautiful fulfillment of penetration. She knew that nothing would beat looking up into his blue eyes as he fucked her, Bridie craved that moment, but she wanted to visit all the pleasure points along the way. The trail was replete with sensations, with pressure, with warm slippery friction. Soon he was teasing her lips apart to gain access to the depths of her desire.

"Jaysis!" she whined, and he chuckled to himself.

"I knew it."

"What?" she panted.

"That prick wasn't doing his job, was he?"

"Hell no... nothing like this."

Merle was disappointed in younger men; he was doing nothing special in his own opinion, so he turned up the heat to show her what she'd been missing. It reached the point between them that he just knew it was right, he could feel it in the energy of her touch, she was so willing and eager. Merle needed to be smothered in her red curls then; he wanted to see them spilled all over her pale skin. He pulled the elastic from the end of her long braid and unthreaded the hair so that he could run his fingers through it and hold her mouth to his. He kissed her so deep he became breathless and just hoped he wasn’t overwhelming her with his desire.

He wasn’t nervous anymore; he stopped questioning it. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it well. Merle slid down to the floor between her feet and began to pull down her leggings.

"What's going on?" she giggled.

“What do you think?” he winked. “I’m thirsty.”

Bridie looked down at the heat in his stare and pulled her top off, baring herself to him in every way. He was still in his suit, and she had to at least remove his jacket and his tie. That was an erotic experience on its own. Pushing the jacket back off his broad shoulders and then watching as he caught the hint and began to pull at his tie back and forth to loosen the knot. The way he removed his tie made her throb for him in every way. His strong hands yanking the knot undone and the way he slid it from around his neck in slow motion dream-like reality…she couldn’t take it.

“My God, you’re beautiful…open up for me, honey…lemme please you.”

She realized her knees were still pressed together, and she licked her lips slowly as she moved her legs apart, following his verbal instructions got her so wet it was almost embarrassing.

"Good girl," he smiled as he moved in close to do his work. "Now this is perfect right here."

She wasn't the type to normally feel comfortable with a man staring at her pussy, but Merle was so turned on by it, it made her feel sexy.

"All wet for me, lass?" he winked.

"Yeah...do me right, Merle."

He kept his eyes on hers as he ran his tongue from her inner knee to her lips in one long streak. He used the tips of his fingers to spread her lips and ran his tongue over her entrance over and over as she watched. His tongue moving like a wave over her slippery sweet lips had her almost sobbing for more in seconds.

“Savage!” she trembled as the warmth of his tongue pulled her under his control. “You…oh my God.”

He kept it up until she pulled her heels up to rest on the edge of the couch and spread her knees wide open. Merle ran a single finger down from her clit, and she watched as he pushed it inside her so slowly. An orgasm began rippling beneath the surface of her skin down deep into her flesh right to the core of her very soul. It was so erotic and quiet as he tested her limits.

“Come on, honey…lemme have it,” he whispered, adding another finger to the equation.

/

Merle felt the smooth walls of her womanhood squeezing against his fingers, and he knew it would feel like heaven inside her. His dick was big enough that he might even get a little whining out of her, he tried not to imagine how sweet it would sound. He didn’t want to cum too fast.

He decided that he needed to hear her cum then, so he went for her clit as he continued to stroke her g-spot.

"You gonna cum for me, angel? I wanna see that pussy begging for my cock...I wanna feel it."

"Damn! That filthy mouth...I fuckin' love it!" she cried out.

Merle licked her clit and sucked it slow and wet until she fell apart before his eyes. He pulled back enough to enjoy the sight of her pussy craving him, needing him.

"Fuck me, Merle. Please."

It wasn't a request; it was a demand and Merle didn't think twice before ripping off his dress shirt, tearing down his pants and thrusting into her as she was still pulsating with release. Thoughtless and ravenous, he had never been so high on sexual electricity. Usually he would remember to use a damn rubber.

"Ohhhh fuck yes!" he growled as he realized it was even better than he expected.  "You OK?"

"Do not stop!" she whimpered. “Slay me with that cock!”

He lay her out on the couch and fucked her senseless as if it wasn't crazy to nail a 25-year-old without a condom on the first date. He sank himself so deep inside her his eyes rolled back in his head, hers was the sweetest pussy in the whole country, he was sure of it.

“Your pussy could kill a man, Bridie!” he gasped as he lay into her nice and deep.

“I’d never hurt you, Sugar daddy,” she grinned, and the sound of that pet name in her thick Irish accent made his cock ache for more.

He fucked her good, and after a few minutes, she took a turn riding his lap as he clung to her ass cheeks with his greedy hands. Her ass was massive, and it made his dick raging hard like a drug. Her full soft legs enveloped him in feminine beauty, and he wanted to spend the rest of his days between those thighs. He buried his face between her breasts like praying at the altar of a goddess, in fact, that’s precisely what he was doing. Merle had never been fucked so well, and the way she rolled her hips to take him deep and let him out just half way before reclaiming his cock was deadly. Her pussy was lethal.

"Good God, woman...marry me!” he groaned as he sucked her breasts one last time; hot cum about to erupt from his cock like molten lava.

“Give it to me…it’s all mine…fill me with it!” she pleaded, and his cock obeyed her.

It was stupid, but he didn’t care one bit as he wrapped both arms around her waist and shot his load deep inside her, raising her up as he thrust up into her with all he had.

“Fuuuuuck!” he bellowed.

It was the best orgasm of his life, nothing in all his life even compared to it.

Bridie just giggled as she collapsed beside him and he knew that he was already addicted to the way she made him feel.

"Stay the night," she whispered as if there was a chance he would leave her then.


	3. Chapter 3

**_ Chapter Three _ **

“Have you ever traveled overseas?” she asked.

Merle had woken up once again with Bridie in his arms, and he was happy, the sun was still resting on the horizon as they spoke.

“I’m a little afraid to fly, and I never had a reason before, but I would do it.”

“I’m going to miss everything about America, but my work visa is up in two months.”

“How much do you need to save?”

“$1400.”

“I could just give it to you, but then I don’t want you to go so soon,” he sighed.

“You’ve already done so much. I’ll stay till I have to go. I don’t want to leave yet anyway.”

“Last night was incredible,” he smiled and pulled her in tight against his body. “You OK with everything?”

“Yeah…”

“What’s wrong, honey? Regrets?”

“I regret that I can’t stay. I miss my family, but I still don’t feel like my future is there.”

Merle curled her red hair around his finger as the sun started to infiltrate their peace.

“If you could do anything, what would your future look like?”

She sighed and leaned her cheek against his chest before answering.

“Realistically, or anything at all?”

“Anything at all.”

“I’d write. I would have a little apartment somewhere with a pretty view, and I’d write novels about my homeland. I’d share the real Ireland with the world, just like Roddy Doyle.”

“You never told me that you write.”

“I’m not a writer; it’s just for fun. I never went to school for anything like that.”

“That don’t matter; I bet it’s great stuff…can I read it?”

“You really want to read it?” she smiled.

“I don’t think you know how I feel about you, Bridie.”

“Tell me.”

“Can’t you feel it?” he asked.

“Yeah, I feel it. Do you feel what I feel too?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re an odd duck, Merle Dixon,” she laughed.

Merle had never said the word love to a woman before, and he chickened out good.

/

By the end of the week, Merle was in deep, right up to his neck.

“So, how’s it going with your Irish girlfriend?” Daryl asked.

“I don’t know, man. Her visa is gonna run out, and then I guess we might have to do a long-distance thing? Maybe she can apply for permanent residence or something if she wants to move here for good. I don’t know shit about immigration.”

“I meant, have you fucked her yet…you two a pretty serious thing or what?”

“Yeah, I’m stupid over her already. I don’t want her to go back.”

“Marry her then,” Daryl suggested.

“Hey yeah! You think?”

“I was joking, Merle! You hardly know this girl, and she’s 25 for fuck sakes,” he laughed. “She got some kind of magical pussy or something? You’re talkin’ crazy now.”

“Yeah…”

“Merle, I’m just trying to be real with you here. She’s gonna go back, and then you’ll be all fucked up about it. Don’t go getting hurt over her, OK?”

“OK. I guess it’s kinda dumb, hey? I am way older than her.”

“17 years.”

Merle excused himself to meet with another contractor and tried to see Daryl’s side of things. Was he being an idiot?

/

If he was being an idiot, he forgot all about it the next time he saw her face.

“I want you to come to my place tonight, Bridie. It’s been a week, and you still haven’t seen my place,” he smiled over a pint at the pub the next weekend.

“I’d love to. Tonight?”

“Hell yeah, when are you off tonight?”

“I could be off in an hour if you want. Cindy could cover for me.”

“Make it happen,” he grinned.

Merle drove her to his house after work, and she couldn’t wrap her mind around his home.

“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary! You live here all alone?” she exclaimed as she stepped out of the car.

“It didn’t look like this when I bought it,” he laughed. “It was borderline condemned when I got my hands on it. Spent the last 12 years gettin’ it to this point.”

The home was two stories and had restored turrets, and pillars on the front porch. The wood was refinished cedar, and he had used an accent color of dusty blue siding and sandstone rock to complete the front of the home. A balcony off the master bedroom upstairs was complete with a small table and chairs with flowers adorning the banister all the way around.

“Merle…this is so beautiful.”

“I got some pictures inside of what it looked like before, it was a hell hole,” he laughed.

“You’re so talented!”

“My brother helped me with a lot of it, and a few other guys who work for me.”

“Talented and modest,” she added.

“Come on, honey.”

Merle took her to the upstairs balcony to relax and poured her a glass of wine as the sun began to set. She was still in her tartan uniform from work, and she let her red hair down from the clip that held it up out of her way.

“You’re just a little too beautiful,” he sighed.

“What does that mean?” she laughed.

“If you were just a little less beautiful then maybe I could control myself with you, but I’d run through fire if you asked me to…do you know that?”

She just looked deep into his eyes then and set her glass down on the table.

“Merle…all I can think of is you now. It’s going to kill me to leave here.”

“Maybe you don’t have to.”

“I do though, I haven’t filed the paperwork to stay longer, and I don’t have time now.”

“I’ll think of something.”

“There isn’t any way, Merle. I already looked into it.”

“Come here, honey…don’t worry about anything like that tonight. OK? Just be with me.”

Bridie got up and walked toward him and was immediately pulled down onto his lap. The balcony was somewhat private, there was nobody on the street below, but Merle couldn’t care less either way.

He pulled her head back onto his shoulder and kissed her neck ravenously. She leaned her back into his chest and felt his tongue trail around the shell of her ear.

“Mmmm…you’re a devil, Merle Dixon.”

He grinned and began to ease her legs apart on his lap; he needed to get his filthy hands up under that tartan skirt.

“I’ll get your mind off of all that stress if it takes me all night long,” he growled.

“Something tells me it won’t take long at all.”

Merle’s hand moved from her knee up under her skirt to her panties, and she began to breathe slow and deep, her ass squirming just right against his crotch. He loved the sweet pressure of her weight in his lap, it felt right in every way.

Bridie looked out over the street Merle lived on and sense the warmth of his strong hand on the thin material of her panties, she was already wet.

“That’s right…do you want me? Do I please you, honey?”

“Of course, you do,” she whined as his fingers pulled her underwear to the side and he introduced his touch to her bare skin. “You please me like nobody else…you’re all I need, baby.”

There was nothing better than Bridie calling him baby, nothing on God’s green Earth.

His left hand moved under her shirt to take her breasts one at a time, cupping them each perfectly and then lightly teasing each nipple through the thin cotton of her bra. The sky was a kaleidoscope of purple, orange, gold, and pink as she felt his fingers enter her. She was once again so wet that it was verging on embarrassing, but he loved it, he said so.

“So wet, honey…spread your legs a little wider for me…let daddy give you some sugar.”

“Your mouth…your filthy mouth,” she panted as she moved her legs over the sides of his thighs.

Merle lay a strong finger on either side of her clit and teased her with slow, sensual motion, drawing her to the brink so easily.

“You’re close…I can feel it…” he urged and he was right as always.

With a gentle pinch of her right nipple and just the right friction between her trembling thighs, she began to break.

There were no real words, but she whined at an unapologetic volume that could get them arrested for public indecency if anyone were around to hear it.

Just a sweet rhythm of, “Uh….oh….Mmmm….uh…..oh yeah!”

Her body let loose, and his dick was so hard that his entire body was tense with need. She grabbed him by the back of his neck as she came, and he felt her heavy breath against his cheek. She abandoned her senses for a beautiful 30 seconds.

“I gotta have you, honey…tell me I can have you,” he pleaded.

“Come,” she winked and then led him to his own bed.

Bridie stripped him bare and lay him down on the bed to take her turn.

“You’re my man, Merle…no matter what happens…remember me this way.”

“Don’t talk like that; honey …there has to be an answer.”

She climbed over his body then, and he felt her pussy on his cock, enveloping his manhood between the soft folds and melting his brain in the process.

“Oh, honey….God damn it!” he hissed and gripped her hips hard.

He expected her to ride him then, but instead, she moved down the bed to take him into her mouth. She licked so slow and so soft, then she took him so deep he could hardly believe it.

“That’s heaven, Bridie, and you’re my angel.”

“I am yours…and you’re all mine,” she whined before taking him in once more.

He was pleading for mercy in no time, and she took it home so well. Merle watched her move over him as she took him in and rode his cock to her own fulfillment and his own. All the curly red hair half covering her beautiful face and the glistening of sweat on her forehead was an image he’d never forget. She was easily the most stunning woman he would ever touch, and he needed to keep her for his own. He had to try at least.

Merle came apart with an angel riding the hell out of his dick, and his heart was no longer his own. He decided to ask her to stay in the morning. He would bring her breakfast and ask her to marry him. If she said no, he would still know that he did all that he could to keep her and he knew that he could rest with that knowledge. What he couldn’t do was let her leave the country without doing everything he could to hold on.

As it turned out, though, morning had other plans.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**_ Chapter Four _ **

 

“Dad…just slow down! What exactly happened?”

Merle rolled over to the sight of Bridie’s bare back, and he moved closer to touch her before he realized that something was very wrong. She jumped when his hand met her skin, and it startled him as well.

“Sorry, honey,” he said.

“He’s fallen before,” she continued to the person on the phone but paused just a moment to touch Merle’s shoulder. “How bad is it?”

“What’s wrong?” Merle mouthed, but she was listening to her father over the phone.

“Intensive care? Jesus Christ!”

Someone she loved was in intensive care back in Dublin, and Merle didn’t need to hear anything else. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table to get to work.

“Dad, I can’t….because I don’t have the money. Of course, I want to be there! How could you even say that? He’s my only brother!”

“Bridie,” Merle whispered.

He had to interrupt her conversation to tell her that he was sending her back to Ireland, he had to tell her before she got even more upset.

“I’m sorry, Merle…what is it?” she whispered with her hand over the phone.

“Tell him you’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“What?”

“Just tell him, honey.”

“Merle…no.”

“Please, honey…let me do this. It’s no hardship for me.”

Bridie just looked into his eyes then. She knew the implications. This was the end for them.

“Dad…I’ll be there on the next flight….don’t ask how, I’ll tell you when I get there. Go be with Declan now.”

/

Merle sat on the futon he had bought her and watched as she packed up her meager possessions to go back home. He couldn’t propose as she was crying over her brother.

“They don’t think he’ll make it…he might even be gone before I get there.”

“I’m so sorry, Bridie. I wish there was more that I could do.”

She stopped to sit next to him and fell into his arms for a long 5 minutes of tears.

“He’s only 27 years old…how could he be this stupid?” she sobbed.

Her brother, Declan, crashed his motorcycle on the motorway without a helmet. His brain activity was low, and Bridie just prayed she be able to say goodbye, that they would keep him alive that long.

“I missed this whole last year with him; I’ll never get that back,” she cried.

“I’m so sorry; honey …we’ll get you back home as soon as we can.”

She kissed him then, her lips salty with tears and it killed him.

“I love you, Merle.”

“I love you too, honey.”

/

The airport was a blur of overly emotional hugging, promises to stay in touch and Merle trying to think of the right time to ask her to come back…it never came. She was texting her father, crying, and praying to God almost the whole time. The last thing she needed was relationship pressure from him.

Back at home, Merle didn’t know where to turn or what to say. He wanted to call and cry to Daryl, but he was afraid to hear “I told ya so,” he didn’t think he could handle that.

Out on the balcony, he looked out at the sky, and he could still feel the pressure of her body on his, hear her moaning with pleasure and his heart pounding in his own ears. She had only been to his home once and yet she was everywhere he looked.

Bridie texted him the moment she landed, her non-stop flight to Dublin was 7 hours and 50 minutes and cost him $1,799. He couldn’t care less about the money; he just wanted her to be there to say goodbye to her brother, that was most important.

_**~ I’m taking a cab to the hospital now. I could never thank you enough for this, Merle.** _

_**~ No need, honey. I just want you to be happy.** _

_**~ I miss you already** _

_**~ I miss you too. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. I wish I was with you there.** _

_**~ Me too, I need someone to hold onto. I can’t even imagine seeing him like this; it’s going to break me.** _

_**~ I’m so sorry, honey…** _

_**~ shit! The cab’s here, I’ll text you in a bit** _

_**~ love you** _

_**~ love you** _

 

Bridie’s brother died the morning after she got back home. The only consolation was that she could say goodbye and be there for her father.

Bridie called Merle every night from her childhood bedroom, and he wanted to tell her to come back, but something stopped him.

She met up with some girlfriends from school at the funeral days after her brother died and she sounded uplifted by it. Her brother’s friends were rallying around her in her grief, and she seemed to be where she needed to be. It felt wrong to ask her to come back to America to be with a man she had only been with for a couple of weeks. Merle had no idea what to do…so he let it be for a little over a week.

/

“Merle!”

“What?”

“I’ve been calling you from the back for 5 minutes, damn it!”

“Sorry.”

Daryl was tired of his moping, and he tried hard to get over what happened with Bridie.

“So we got this delivery to make, and then we can close the deal on the 4th Street house, we got a family that wants to purchase so as soon as the financing clears it’s a done deal. The Main Street house is all cleared out now. I unloaded all the furniture you bought that girl into your basement this morning.”

“OK.”

“Merle, snap out of it!”

“Sorry, man.”

“She’s just gone...you gotta let it go. She has to be home with her family now.”

“I know you’re right; I just miss her.”

 

Daryl was worried now, Merle wasn’t this type of guy, and he didn’t know what to say.

“Was it really that big a deal with her?” he asked.

“I’m so stupid…I was gonna ask her to marry me just so I could keep her here with me.”

“Merle…”

“I feel so fuckin’ alone now.”

“What are you talking about? You have me!”

“Sorry but you ain’t my type, Daryl. I need a woman for this kind of loneliness.”

“I get it.”

“I just feel like I’m never gonna find anyone else. I never loved anyone like Bridie-”

“You really love this girl?”

“Yeah.”

Merle sighed and started to scan through his phone for the next email to attend to.

“Merle, I can handle this if you wanna take a trip.”                              

“Nah, you said so yourself…it’s dumb. She was too young for me.”

“Merle, just go. I think maybe I had this all wrong with you. You’re obviously fucked up over it.”

“I can’t eat or anything…I’m layin’ awake every night cause I can’t fall asleep.”

“Just go, I’ll handle all of this.”

“But what do I say? I don’t know if America is the place for her, away from her family, and I can’t move there cause I got my business.”

“You’re 42; life might not throw you another chance like this. If it’s meant to be you two will figure it all out.”

/

Bridie sat in the local pub with her dad, the old songs playing in the corner by a local band. She knew everyone in the room, many of them mates of her brother, and yet her heart was somewhere else.

“You’re all I have now, Bridie. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I know, Dad…I missed you.”

“Your brother missed you too.”

“Dad, please.”

“I’m not trying to guilt you,” her father insisted.

“Lend me a smoke.”

“You don’t smoke.”

“Gimme a break,” she sighed.

Bridie stepped out into the night and looked up at the stars in the sky, the same stars that hung over her man’s head. She couldn’t read from his messages or phone calls what he really wanted. He said that he loved her, but did he need her the way she needed him? Did he wake up every morning longing for her too? Merle was 42; she figured he must have had other relationships and that maybe it wasn’t as hard for him to let go. The truth was that she had no idea.

Back at her father’s house that night she was tipsy from the evening's drinking. She was Irish, and this was how they dealt with grief. She sat on her childhood bed, with the emerald green sheets and tried not to cry. Declan’s picture hung on the wall, and her father was downstairs still drinking, but she felt connected to nothing and no one.

Eventually, she lay back to rest and tried to come up with a plan, nothing in Ireland felt like it used to. She would always love her homeland, but it no longer held her heart…her heart was somewhere very far away now.

She heard her father coming up the stairs and dreaded another reminder of how much Declan had missed her, and how silly she had been to think that America was the place for her. She knew her father thought it was a bad decision to follow Colin, but she didn’t need to hear it now.

The knock at her door startled her even though she had been expecting it.

“Dad, I don’t feel like talking right now…I’m really tired, maybe in the morning. OK?”

The doorknob turned, and she bolted up to really let him have it.

“Dad! For Jaysis sake! I don’t wanna talk right-”

“He let me in downstairs…is this a bad time?”

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a oneshot that got long and this last chapter is short. It could have been smutty but for some reason, it didn't feel right. The muse does as she likes:/ I guarantee I'll be writing more Merle smut for months or years to come so no worries there!   
> This just felt like it should be a romantic ending.   
> Thanks for reading.  
> xo Teagan

_**Chapter 5** _

_**Epilogue.** _

 

“How did you find me?”

Bridie was stunned and excited, but only the stunned part was evident as she looked up at him from her bed.

“I asked every single person in Dublin if they knew you…it took me hours.”

She frowned at him then; it didn’t make sense to her.

“Why didn’t you just call me?” she smiled.

“I got talking to this woman on the plane, it was such a long flight, and I was so anxious that I told her everything about us.”

“Really?”

“This woman was big into chick flicks, so she convinced me that I need to come surprise you. She said it’s important that I make a big statement. I’m here for something big, so it needs to be a grand gesture she said.”

“Aren’t you just here to see me?” she asked.

“No, Bridie…I know that your life is here, and I’ll understand if you tell me, no, but I can’t be happy without you now. I never was the type to tell anyone what I need, cause I never wanted to look weak, but I need you to come back to me. I need you.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” he grinned.

“But how? I don’t have citizenship, Merle.”

“That’s the other thing, Bridie. I thought that we could get married if you want to.”

“You want to marry me?” she asked. “Is it just so that I can stay?”

“No! Nothing like that, it’s cause I love you. I want you to live with me and be my wife. I want you to sit out on the balcony and write your stories and if you want to work you can, but if you just want to write, I’ll support you as long as you live.”

“Merle, I’d marry you right this second. I was just laying here praying that I’d see you again.”

She got up fast and jumped into his arms, and the kiss was just like in the movies, passionate and never-ending as he picked her up to lay her down on the bed.

“What about your father?” he asked as he ran his greedy hands down to her perfect ass.

“He’ll be half plastered, no worries,” she panted, and then slid her hand down the front of his pants.

“I mean…will he be OK if you leave the country?”

“I can’t be without you, Merle. He will understand in time.”

“What if we came back to visit a few times a year?”

“Merle…you’re too much.”

/

Merle knew he would do anything to make it work for her. He had found the girl he didn’t know existed for him and maybe they were born in the wrong generations, but it had to work somehow. He could feel that she needed him too and being able to have faith in that was like catching a star in a net, incredible and something he had thought was impossible.

From the first moment he saw her in the pub, Merle knew there was nobody else like her, and he was right. Bridie was the only one for him.

 


End file.
